12 public health students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa

Twelve current and former undergraduates studying at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health recently were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most honored of college honorary societies.

 

The eight students recently inducted are Katherine Wesley Byerly, of Chapel Hill, N.C., senior health policy and management major in the School and anthropology major in the College of Arts and Sciences; Paul Jeffrey Hiatt, of Loveland, Co., senior environmental health sciences major; Katherine Meredith Hunold, of Henrico, Va., junior biostatistics major; Charles Albert LePrevost, of Hickory, N.C., senior health policy and management major; Robyn Nicole Levine, of Miami, senior nutrition major; Brittany Nicole Papworth, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., a junior environmental health sciences major at the School and biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences; Michelle Ashley Tsang, of Chapel Hill, N.C., who received a May 2010 degree in environmental health sciences; and Leah Danielle Vance, of Cleveland, Tenn., senior environmental health sciences and engineering major.

 

The four students inducted in the spring were Elizabeth Marie Blayney, who received a May 2010 degree in environmental health sciences; Dori Cross, of Wilmington, Del., who received a May 2010 degree in health policy and management; Sendhilnathan Ramalingam, of Cary, N.C., who received a December 2010 degree in biostatistics; and Rebecca Rothwell, of Columbia, Md., senior biostatistics major.

 

There were 154 total new inductees this fall at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 91 of whom are from North Carolina. New members received certificates and Phi Beta Kappa keys, the organization’s symbol. The induction ceremony featured remarks by Carolina alumna Sue Walsh, a Phi Beta Kappa member and director of endowment and stewardship for the Educational Foundation Inc., also known as the Rams Club. Phi Beta Kappa membership is open to undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences and professional degree programs who meet stringent eligibility requirements.A student who has completed 75 hours of course work with a grade-point average of 3.85 or better (on a 4-point scale) is eligible for membership. Also eligible is any student who has competed 105 hours of course work in the liberal arts and sciences with a 3.75 grade-point average. Grades earned at other universities are not considered. Less than 1 percent of all college students qualify.

Past and present Phi Beta Kappa members from across the country have included 17 American presidents and numerous artistic, intellectual and political leaders. Seven of the current nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices are members.

There are 270 Phi Beta Kappa chapters nationwide. UNC’s chapter, Alpha of North Carolina, was founded in 1904 and is the oldest of six chapters in the state.

Each year, Phi Beta Kappa chapters and alumni associations across the country raise and distribute more than $1 million in awards, scholarships and prizes benefiting high school and college students.

Phi Beta Kappa officers at Carolina for 2010-2011 are students Julia Loewenthal, president; Chris Carter, vice president; and Lauren-Kelly Devine, recording secretary. Robert Lowman, PhD, associate vice chancellor for research, is chapter secretary and faculty adviser.

 

 

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.